


Years Like Moments

by MichellesPenScratchz



Series: My Preposterous Borderlands Extended Universe [2]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Mild Sexual Content, Missing Scene, Post-Tales from the Borderlands, Pre-Borderlands 3, Romance, Sad Ending, Tales From the Borderlands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27429409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MichellesPenScratchz/pseuds/MichellesPenScratchz
Summary: A 30 Day OTP Series I did on DeviantArt last year for Rhysha. The images are arranged to tell a loose story of Rhys and Sasha's time together during and after Tales from the Borderlands, and gives a theory for Sasha's disappearance in BL3.
Relationships: Rhys/Sasha (Borderlands)
Series: My Preposterous Borderlands Extended Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873684
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. During Tales

**Author's Note:**

> This 30-Day OTP series inspired Fiends to Fire and a whole mess of short fics, now in varying stages of completion. Life be crazy, so in case I never get to tell the whole story in my head the way I want to, allow me to share the little story-in-pictures compilation that started it all.

The pair experienced their first humanizing moment when Rhys loaned Sasha his stun baton, and made her pinky swear to give it back.

* * *

During the long trek to the Atlas Biodome, Sasha learned that the closest Rhys had ever come to "camping" was to maybe walk across a parking lot that didn't have a valet one time.

* * *

Also during the trip to the Biodome, the gang scavenged an abandoned town for supplies, where they found a working radio. Sasha reminisced about her time DJing for Hollow Point Underground, but the anti-Hyperion propaganda station was too far out of range to pick up now. Rhys tuned into an electro swing marathon and declared it "his jam."

Sasha was more in the “Eh, sure, it’s okay,” camp, but could distinctly be heard humming the song the next day.

* * *

A very tense, not at all silly chase scene ensued at the Biodome.

* * *

Rhys was forced into confessing the truth about the AI program hiding out in his head. As Jack predicted, the revelation was not well received.

"You had that murdering bastard in your head this whole time, and you never told us?!" Sasha demanded.

"Hey, in my defense," Rhys countered, "I just want to remind you, you were shoving me out of a moving car. So, considering the alternative--"

"Don't even think about turning this around on us, or I swear this time I'll push you in FRONT of a moving car!" she countered.

* * *

Rhys didn't relish the idea of taking on the infiltration of Helios with Sasha still angry at him. Gingerly concealing a departed rival's severed face behind him, and suddenly very interested in the intricacies of the ceiling, he ventured, "So...sorry about earlier."

She tightened her jaw in an indecipherable, but decidedly not happy expression. "Are we talking about the--?"

"--Yeah. That."

She paused. "Just let me ask one thing. Did you really not know what was on that drive?"

"I didn't know what was expecting," he admitted. "But it definitely wasn't this."

"So who--?" She trailed off. Who tucked that flower behind her ear? Who fell from the catwalk into her arms? She couldn't trust a single moment they'd spent together. How much of it was real, and how much of it was Jack, toying with her?

"You know what? Forget it. Let's just focus on the beacon. We'll deal with this after," she said.


	2. The Atlas Salvage Mission pt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Monday-Headache for this great 3D version of the [top image](https://monday-headache.tumblr.com/post/628623741317971968/here-we-stand-worlds-apart-hearts-broken-in)/

Thinking that Fiona and Sasha deserted him, Rhys made his way to the Biodome to subsist miserably on fruit and hide from his regrets.

Thinking that Rhys might not have survived Helios, Sasha gazed up at the newly unobstructed view of the moon from the entrance to the Hollow Point cave. She attempted to use her contacts at Hollow Point Underground to send him a message, telling him to find a way to Hollow Point where she and Fiona were there waiting for him. The message went unresponded.

* * *

Rhys reunited happily with Sasha before facing off against the Traveler. The reunion was be a short one, as Rhys and Fiona vanished into the Vault shortly afterward.

* * *

The Vault of the Traveler teleported Rhys to Promethea, where Old Atlas' Board of Directors still maintained some semblance of authority. Rhys presented his claim to the company to them, in the form of Jack's stock certificate. Skeptical that he was worthy to fill Jack's illustrious shoes, they sent him back to Pandora on a salvage mission, to gather the company's lost assets to make Atlas profitable again. Or, just die trying. All the same to them, really.

Once back on Pandora he enlisted Gortys, Loader Bot, and Sasha for this effort. One ordinary day of the salvage, Rhys couldn't help but notice Sasha and Loader Bot were doing a little more playing than working. He continued to notice this for a few moments more. Sasha's rendition of air guitar with a gun she found was proving especially...unproductive.

* * *

Rhys suspected he was far from done making enemies on his path to the top of Atlas, so during the salvage of Old Haven he selected some of the "Dumpy" robots to reprogram as his security detail.

While he busied himself fixing them up one evening, Sasha addressed the elephant in the room of the new cyber arm and cyber eye. Reluctantly, he told her about the final encounter with AI Jack.

"Bet you were scared," she remarked.

"Only a little...mortally terrified."

* * *

The Atlas Salvage mission was going overall well. ...Except for that rare instance when some Psychos who clearly didn't even look at the employee handbook would show up.  
Fortunately, Rhys had a contingency for those occasions.

"Here's the plan," he called to Sasha over the encroaching jabbers. "You shoot them, I'll take cover!"

"You mean _hide_?!" she called back while taking aim. "Yeah, I was just thinking that."

"Awesome!" He flashed a thumbs up over his fast-retreating shoulder. "You got this, Sash!"

* * *

Back when Sasha used Hollow Point Underground to try and find Rhys just after Helios, her efforts didn't go entirely unnoticed. A local indie band called The Sexy Bullymongs was moved by her heartfelt message and wrote a song inspired by it and the fall of Helios, titled "Get The H Outta The Sky."

While she worked on the Atlas salvage, the 'Mongs sent Sasha two VIP passes to a block party they were throwing in Hollow Point. She invited Rhys to be her plus one.

ECHO-Log  
[Sasha:] You remember Hollow Point Underground? Well, a local band it used to broadcast is having a party tomorrow night, and they sent me two holo-passes. …Thing is, I only need one, so…  
[Rhys:] Hang on, are you actually *inviting* me? Wow. I haven’t been invited to a party in–I don’t know how long.  
[Sasha:] So, is that a no, or…?  
[Rhys:] Yeah, no, yes. It’s a yes. It sounds like a good time…as far as gatherings of scary, heavily-armed thugs go. So, yes.  
[Sasha:] Good. This “thug” has a surprise for you when we get there.  
[Rhys:] …Should I be concerned about the way you said that?


	3. The Atlas Salvage Mission pt 2

Rhys and Sasha arrived in Hollow Point for The Sexy Bullymongs' party. The music was loud, and the words to the songs were hard to make out with the reverberation off the cave walls, But that didn’t spoil the mood as they found a spot on the floor together. She guided his hands to her hips and swayed to the tune. Something inexplicable told him this was the moment to confess his feelings. She was conveniently facing away from him so he didn't have to look her in the eye when he said it. And the music was loud enough that nobody else would hear.

Unfortunately, neither did she.

Rhys mumbled.

Sasha leaned her head back. "Huh?"

Rhys mumbled marginally louder.

Sasha craned back more. "WHAT?!"

"I SAID I LOVE–"

The song ended. Everyone heard.

"…this band," Rhys finished lamely.

"I hope so!" Sasha called back. "Because they dedicated that song to you!"

"…Wait, what?"

* * *

After Rhys' confession bungle, the two left the party and walked around Hollow Point.

Sasha explained that, shortly after she and Fiona got back from the catastrophe on Helios, she'd used Hollow Point Underground to send a message out to him. Obviously he never heard it, but a local band did. So inspired, they wrote the song “Get The H Outta The Sky,” based on both the fall of Helios and Sasha’ heartfelt message. That was the surprise she had planned for Rhys when she invited him to this party.

" _Get the H outta the sky  
I, we, I, look up high  
And he put the moon back in our eye  
Got the elfin' H outta the sky," _she recited the words. "It's a song about you. And I...sort of helped write it."

Rhys had mixed feelings upon learning that his definitive act of Hyperion downsizing had inspired a song, but he was touched to learn that Sasha had in fact been looking for him after the fall of Helios.

* * *

Sasha led Rhys to the old safe house in Hollow Point. There, she retrieved an ECHO-Log of the message she broadcasted on Hollow Point Underground right after Helios, and gave it to him as a gift.

“I hope you’re hearing this, Robot Eye," the specter of past Sasha declared somberly. "What you did…I still can’t really believe it. I never actually thought I’d look up in the sky and just see the moon again. If you can hear me, just find some way to get to Hollow Point, okay? I–we…I just want to know you’re alright."

He was beyond touched to be holding this physical proof that she had still cared about him during the worst time of his life. He promised when he finished the salvage and returned to Promethea, she was coming with him.

As first kisses go, it was a pretty memorable setup. (And now he understood the “I, We, I” reference in the song “Get The H Outta The Sky.”)

The Atlas salvage mission reached a successful conclusion. Rhys decided to commemorate the occasion with a selfie for Atlas' social media account. Sasha, overcome by excitement to finally leave for Promethea, made it a little more of a candid shot than intended.

* * *

Fiona had been transported by the Vault of the Traveler to Eden-6, where she'd been getting into some shenanigans of her own involving the Jakobs family. She gifted Sasha a new bike as a going-away present after learning of Sasha's plans to travel with Rhys to Promethea. Sasha somehow convinced Rhys to go on a joyride around the wastes of Pandora with her while she "Gives this dustbowl planet one last middle finger at breakneck speed."

* * *

The pair found themselves in Rhys' spacecraft on the last night on Pandora, unwinding before the trip to Promethea in the morning. Sasha began an unusual line of questioning.

"I've been wondering something about the arm," she posed.

"By all means, ask me anything you want," he said, then smirked. "The parts I don't know, I can always make up."

"Is it ticklish?"

A pause. "...Er, n-no."

She loomed, fingers poised. "You expect me to believe if I tickle your arm right now, you wouldn't laugh?"

"Haha, stop! Stop! Sasha, stop!"


	4. Life On Promethea

* * *

“Any other questions for me, while I’m still semi-conscious?” Rhys ran the thick locks of Sasha's hair between his fingers.

“Just one,” she said. “On Promethea, if I’m going to be ‘Lead Weapons Tester,’ and we’re going to be…this…” she waved her hand gesturing to the tangle of bedding and clothes around them. “I bet those Atlas Board guys aren’t gonna like that, are they?”

He pshawed. “What. Ever. Remember what happened to the last guy I worked with who tried to stop me from doing exactly what I wanted?”

“Oh, so you’ll piss yourself and wait for Fiona to have them shot.” A short nod. “Got it.”

“Ouch.” He knocked on his chest. “Right in the pride.”

She dragged his forgotten jacket towards her, her headband wedged in its folds. She slipped the jacket on, and the headband tumbled onto his forehead. With the oversized outerwear hanging from her bare shoulders, she smirked. “…Are you gonna wear their faces, too?”

“Yech.” His face scrunched. “Not even dignifying that with a reply.” With all the stoicism he could muster, he dragged the headband up around his head. “But I’m sure HR will be glad to get back to you.”

He slid a finger down her nose, prompting her to stick out her tongue.

* * *

The pair landed on Promethea and took in the sights, including a Quick Change stop.

"This place is awesome!" Sasha exclaimed, eyes drawn to the skyscrapers.

Rhys took her hand and jerked a thumb towards the Atlas HQ entrance. "Wait till you see it from the top."

* * *

The couple settled into Atlas HQ, and Rhys confessed to Sasha that he still had lingering fears of Handsome Jack somehow returning. What if Nakayama had a backup version? Or, if there’s a vestige of the AI program still lingering as a virus somewhere, waiting for him to unwittingly open an email and unleash Jack into the Atlas systems.

His worst dread? That Jack will take over his own cybernetics again and hurt her while they lay side by side sleeping.

Sasha promised she wouldn't let that happen. Whether she had to carry an EMP device on her at all times, or straight-up blow Rhys' cyber arm off at point blank, Jack would never get the chance to hurt either of them again.

* * *

Some time had passed since the pair came to Promethea, and New Atlas began to find its footing. Rhys and his “Lead Weapons Tester” Sasha went over some new weapon schematics at this sublime little confectioner called Fran’s Frogurt…which was sure to prosper a long time and not meet a fiery end.

Too bad Sasha never got to try frogurt on Pandora, and didn’t know about brainfreeze.

"How did this one test, Sasha?" Rhys glanced across the table from the holo-schematic. "…Sasha? Oh, right. Brainfreeze. I probably should have warned you. My bad."

"Great," she cringed.

* * *

The pair decided on some precautions to ease Rhys's fears of Jack returning. First, Rhys began scheduling diagnostics on his systems about as regularly as he scheduled haircuts.

Second, when they slept, Sasha got accustomed to having Rhys’ cyber arm underneath her, so if she felt it move suspiciously in the night she could be ready to disarm it with an EMP. Or, failing that, with a gun. (”What’s one more arm at this point?” she joked.)

Jokes aside, Rhys felt safer than he could remember, drifting off to sleep at night next to the girl willing to protect him by simply being in his arms. Before unconsciousness sets in, he leaned in to whisper something.

-I love you. -Good night. Or, -This is nice.

Sasha will remember that.

* * *

“Wake up, Sash! Get ready to have your mind blown!”

“It’s 6 in the morning, Rhys.”

“I know, I overslept too, but check this out! Now that I have Zer0 watching my back, I turned the Dumpy Squad into–wait for it–coffee bots! …C’mon, I know you’re impressed!”

“Aren’t we closed today?”

“A company re-founder and CEO never rests, sweetheart. Hence the coffee bots.”

“No one says ‘hence,’ hon.”

“You serious? Maybe I should trademark it.”

“I’m going back to sleep now.”

“ _‘Atlas: Hence The Dawn of Man.’_ No. _‘Atlas: Hence What The Future Holds.’_ Better.”


	5. Pre-Maliwan War

"It's important to take time off once in awhile. Thank goodness we'll always have Lazy River Land..."

* * *

Katagawa Jr. knew quality when he saw it. If there was anyone in his miserable family who could claim that, it was him. And the revived Atlas, under the leadership of this “Rhys” fellow he’d been hearing about, was the kind of quality that deserved to be stamped with the Maliwan brand. Katagawa never met an upstart he couldn’t wrap around his finger with the right persuasion. He invited Mr. Strongfork to the swankiest club in the quadrant to make him an offer. He even let him bring along his Lead Weapons Tester, for a show of good faith. The girl filled a seat well enough, but she didn’t matter. Clearly a salaried lackey. Maybe a glorified secretary, but nothing more. Only the tall, self-made success story of metal and flesh that was Rhys Strongfork held Katagawa’s attention. After the finest bottle of champagne had arrived and an adequate amount of pleasantries had been dispensed, Katagawa slid the folder onto the table that would shape the destiny of both their companies.

* * *

In the days following the meeting with Katagawa Jr., it became increasingly apparent that the Maliwan exec was not in the habit of taking 'No' for an answer. Rhys was harassed by representatives wearing the big bold M at every step.  
  
As if this wasn’t frustrating enough, he went in for a scheduled diagnostic on his cybernetics, like he promised Sasha he would. That was always nerve-wracking. The technician giving the diagnostic wasn’t her usual self, to boot. Normally Rhys would tell a joke, the tech would laugh, and he’d be put ease. This time, when he cracked “Be sure to put all my beach vacation memories back where you find them!” he was met with stony silence. At least all systems were a go.  
  
Rhys decided he’d been working too hard, and gave Zer0 the night off so he could be alone with Sasha. He vented his frustrations with the whole situation to her, and she listened as always.  
  
“But you’re still not signing, right?” she pressed. “Because if you make me call that creep ‘Boss,’ I’m going back to Pandora tonight.”  
  
Rhys pshawed. “You kidding? After the way he turned his nose up at you in the club? If Katagawa refuses to see what’s right in front of him, there’s no way in hell he’s got any business stamping that M on our things.”  
  
She slid playfully into his lap in the office chair. “That’s what I thought. I knew you’d never let some Maliwan slime bag get their hands on my weapons. Only I know what makes an Atlas gun tick.”  
  
“You’re reading my mind, Sash. Company policy: The first to pull every Atlas trigger is you. That’s non-negotiable.”  
  
The office chair seemed about to experience one of its more multipurpose functions. The moment was almost spoiled, however, when Rhys leaned in and whispered to Sasha, “I’ve been thinking. How would I look with a mustache?”  
  
She threw back her head and laughed. “…Wait. You’re serious?”

* * *

After an evening in with Rhys, Sasha woke up in their bed that night to a very soft whirring sound coming from his eye. She wouldn’t have heard it at all, if she hadn’t spent their last few years together training herself to pick up on signs of compromised cybernetics. Slowly she reached for her EMP device, but then the whirring stopped. She was about to forget it and go back to sleep.  
  
Then she went cold as she remembered something Rhys said earlier that night: the technician who gave his diagnostic was acting strange. Of course, “strange” to him meant “not laughing at his jokes.” Maybe it was nothing. But she promised him the day they first came to Promethea that she would never let Jack hurt him again. To keep her promise she resolved to look into it. She called Fiona to offer her a very personal Vault Hunter side quest. Fiona was happy to make the trip to Promethea, if it meant catching up with her sister.  
  
After some investigating, Fiona returned to Sasha with bad news. The real diagnostic tech was dead, and whoever had been at Rhys’ appointment was in a digistructed disguise of them. They had uploaded a program into Rhys’ cybernetics that turned his eye into a spy camera, and also planted a beacon for a homing missile.  
  
The tech was Hyperion, and the intel showed that the phony technician was working under the orders of one Jeffery Blake.

* * *

When Sasha learned of the missile beacon uploaded into Rhys’ cybernetics, she immediately called him to try to warn him. It went to voicemail, and she remembered he had an investor meeting that day. Fiona stopped her from leaving a message, because there was also a spy camera in Rhys’ eye; if she warned him, whoever was monitoring it (Jeffery Blake, from the sounds of it) would know he’d been found out. Sasha was sickened to realize how much of her this Blake guy had already seen. They needed to find the missile launch site and stop it without Hyperion knowing they were coming.  
  
Fiona came up with a plan…but not one that Sasha liked. She suggested that Sasha trick Hyperion by tricking Rhys. She told Sasha to steal some of Atlas’ latest prototypes, making it seem like that was all she was ever after. That way, Blake wouldn’t find it suspicious when Sasha was gone from Rhys’ everyday life. Not to mention Fiona could use the new tech if she was going to storm a Hyperion facility.  
  
Sasha flat out refused at first. This was worse than what she did to August! This was exactly like what Felix did to them! She worked so hard to put the con-artist life behind her. She couldn’t do this to Rhys now. In the end, though, her older sister’s will prevailed. Fiona needed Sasha with her for this. Fiona had almost lost her kid sister once before; she’d do the job a lot easier if she wasn’t worrying about Sasha at the top of Atlas HQ, across the breakfast table from a ticking time bomb.  
  
Sasha snuck away from Meridian City on her bike, bag full of stolen Atlas ware at her side. She caught a glimpse of one of Rhys' newer billboards, with that cheesy slogan he'd concocted in bed one morning. She loathed every tear that fell from her eyes. Even if she saved him, would he forgive her? Could it ever go back to the way it was?

* * *

Rhys saw he missed a call from Sasha when he got out of his meeting. He called back and it went to voicemail. “Hey, Sasharoo. I just saw you tried to call me. While I’m thinking about it, what do you say to takeout tonight? I’m kinda feeling tacos. Or, maybe thai. I could use something spicy to burn away the taste Maliwan is leaving in my mouth. But, yeah. Call me and let me know what to order. See you at home.”

Hours passed.

Rhys’ second voicemail to Sasha was more sober. “Everything okay, Sash? Your bike’s gone, and I thought you might be out with Lorelei, but she said she hasn’t seen you. With all this Maliwan business going on, I’d just…really appreciate you checking in.”

Days passed.

Rhys’ last voicemail was a panicked stream of consciousness. “Sasha, god, please call back. It’s been days. Even Zer0 can’t find you. The Maliwan fleet is in the atmosphere, and-heh-and I may have a literal heart attack if I don’t hear your voice right now. If I did something wrong, whatever it is, just talk to me. You know I’ll make it right. If you’re hurt…I mean, if you need help, tell me where you are. Zer0 will be there in the space of a blink. Just please call back. Sasha. Please. I need you. I love you.”

The fingers started to point to Maliwan…but for all the threats and taunts Katagawa Jr. made, he never once gave any ransom demands. The bombshell Rhys *did* get was even worse. An Atlas inventory check came back, and several prototypes were missing. The shock nearly put Rhys on the floor. Sasha stole from him? Why? Anything she wanted was already hers for the asking. He thought she was happy here. He thought she loved him. She’d slept in his arms every night for years, keeping him safe from Jack. How could that be a lie? Was he just another “August” all along?

One morning he reached in his sock drawer, and found something hidden. An ECHO-log. The one Sasha gave him as a gift all those years ago in Hollow Point. “I hope you’re hearing this, Robot Eye. What you did…I still can’t really believe it. I never actually thought I’d look up in the sky and just see the moon again. If you can hear me, just find some way to get to Hollow Point, okay? I–we…I just want to know you’re alright.”

Just as he started using his socks as a handkerchief, he heard a new part to the message.

“And I want you to know that I’m alright, too. Maybe you’ll never get this message. Or maybe you’ll hate me by the time you get it. Please…please believe me that I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry I did. If things go our way, I’ll see you back here soon. I love you.”


End file.
